Everything Runs Out Of Steam - Get Used To It

Michael Hedges October 26, 2018 Follow on Twitter

Listening to the radio is not what it used to be. Music was better. DJs and show hosts were either funny or interesting, sometimes both. News was just that, news. Now there’s streaming and podcasts. Tomorrow, when 5G arrives in force, there will be much more. Nobody laments the disappeared Xerox machine.

For UK radio broadcasters the recent RAJAR Q3 audience estimates release - effectively the summer weeks plus a couple extra - the news offered little to take to the bank. Listening is down, year on year, in a quarter that is normally light. But it is the second quarter in a row that gross reach has fallen. BBC channels lost a bit, more so among 15 to 44 year olds. Commercial broadcasters gained a bit; mostly among those young or youngish people. Overall, the BBC maintains a 6% reach share advantage, just like last quarter.

BBC Radio 2, yet again the top rated UK national channel, dropped to 17.1% reach share from 17.6% year on year. The channel regularly takes a hit during Q3 - summer being vacation time for top show hosts. Some UK radio wags offered that listeners were bailing on morning star Chris Evans ahead of a triumphal re-entry next year - with a huge salary - at Virgin Radio, an digital channel now owned by News UK. That’s hardly likely as the big announcement didn’t come until September.

News and talk BBC Radio 4, still number two nationally, dropped a tad; 11.6% reach share from 11.8% one year on. It’s the lowest reach share in four years; arguably more Brexit news blues. BBC Radio 1 is back to number three; 6.0% reach share from 5.9%. They already have a new morning show host.

Other BBC national channels were up a tad, down a tad or flat year on year. All-sports Five Live is in ninth place, holding 3.4% reach share. All-digital 6Music placed 11th; 2.2% reach share up from 2.0%. Altogether BBC national radio channels drew 45.0% reach share, unchanged year on year. BBC local stations attracted 6.7% aggregate reach share.

National commercial channels - they are all national now, thanks to DAB - were up, on aggregate, to 18.5% reach share from 17.2%. The leader, ranked 4th overall, is Heart; 5.6% reach share from 5.7%. The Capital network fell to 3.6% reach share from 4.2% for 5th place nationally. Classic FM - the last true national channel - placed 6th, unchanged at 3.5%. It was tied for place with Smooth, which was lower at 3.5% from 4.0%.

Once UK commercial radio broadcasters were disadvantaged by distribution limited, mostly, to local areas. Digital platforms - aided by a rules change by regulator OFCOM - eased this. And broadcasters slowly but surely took advantage, now offering dozens of channels with new ones popping up all the time. Media buyers loved being handed new platforms for their messages. The aggregate reach share of local UK stations in the national survey dropped to 27.2% from 28.1%.

Of the remaining commercial channels in the national survey, only Magic, ranked 10th, moved significantly; 2.3% reach share from 1.9% year on year. Many of the other mostly digital channels were up a tiny bit. Those brand extensions add up.

In the greater London survey area BBC Radio 4 remains on top; 13.6% reach share down from 14.4% one year on. Radio 2 remained number two; a jump to 12.4% reach share from 10.9%. In Q2 Radio 2 actually led Radio 4 for the first time in forever. BBC Radio 1 was unchanged at 3.4% reach share for 8th place.

Commercial all-talk station LBC 97.3 has fairly well cemented 3rd place in London; a big bump to 6.6% reach share from 5.8% year on year. Magic London, 4th, was also up; 4.4% reach share from 3.6%. Both Kiss London and Capital FM, 5th and 6th, respectively, were lower. Classic FM took a hit; down to 3.4% from 4.1%.

Digital listening, in the national survey, keeps rising; 52.4% of all listeners from 48.8% one year on. The DAB platform is the major piece of that; 38.1% from 35.9%. Listening online or via the mobile phone jumped to 9.6% from 8.0%. DAB supporters are quivering at the possibility of shutting down the FM transmitters some day soon.

See also in ftmKnowledge

Digital Transitions

Media's transition from analogue to digital has opened opportunities and unleashed challenges beyond the imagination. Media is connected and mobile yet fettered by old rules and new economics. Broadcasters and publishers borrow from the past while inventing whole new services. This ftm Knowledge file explores the changes. 88 pages PDF (March 2012)

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